He's Absolutely Perfect
by ragamuffin009
Summary: Kankuro took a kunai knife out of his pocket. “I knew you’d try to do that. And I promise you, if you hurt him… I’ll cut my wrists wide open.” A puppet loved a puppet. This is the story of Karasu and his master, and their love that was oh. So. Wrong.
1. Karasu is Hurt

Sometimes I disturb even myself... This is just too fucking wierd, and yet, somehow cute.

_

* * *

Damn it._

His fingers moved quickly and methodically, twisting steel, screwing in bolts.

_Damn that Sasori._

Ironic.

Purely ironic that the man he was cursing was the same man, the _very same man_ to which he owed his prized possession.

_Why?_

Sasori was also the man who destroyed it.

_Why did it have to be you?_

One of his hands slipped, causing a long gash right down the middle of Karasu's chest.

"_Fuck!"_ Kankuro cried, throwing down the screwdriver. Now how was he supposed to do it? He'd have to make a whole new chest plate-and just when he'd finally figured out the jutsu!

The forbidden jutsu.

At first, it was an attempt to bring life to puppets. Then it was banned, as the user's life was sacrificed. Too dangerous, they said. Then, finally, it was used to bring Gaara back from the dead. Chiyo came up with it. Chiyo was the last one to use it.

Kankuro had finally figured out how to use it without dying.

He had run over every scenario in his mind, every possible outcome looked at, every change to the jutsu considered for days on end. And he found that _yes_; there was a way to do what he'd dreamed of doing since the tender age of six.

Back then, he'd just wanted a friend.

By twelve he realized he needed something more.

And now, at seventeen, he finally had the means to do it.

Sleep? He denied himself the luxury of sleep. Food? Hah. Forget about it. Not until he fixed Karasu. Karasu was more important than any human _need_.

Karasu was perfect.

Kankuro was not.

And after he fixed Karasu, he would perform the jutsu. It would take weeks, maybe even months. He would be within an inch of death when it was done. But it would be _so_ worth it.

And besides, there were no doubts in his mind that Karasu would take care of him.

As a Shinobi, Kankuro knew he was just a mere puppet to so many people, to the village, to the country. Karasu, as a _true_ puppet, would understand how he felt as no one else did.

At least, that was the hope he held in his heart as he continued to work on Karasu, obsessing over small details, making him absolutely _perfect_.

"Kankuro?" a female voice said softly, filling the room with unwanted noise. Kankuro heard the voice and knew it wasn't accustomed to speaking softly. It wasn't meant to, either.

"Temari," Kankuro's voice, hoarse and rough from days of non-usage, came from the far corner of the room, "you shouldn't try to speak softly; it doesn't suit you." He heard her clear her throat and start again.

"Are you… all right?" She asked, a bit louder and stronger now. He heard concern ring out in her tone.

"No… But I will be…" He answered.

"You've, um… Been in your room for days now… alone, and have you eaten at all?" he heard the door close and quiet, padded footsteps coming towards him.

"No…" he muttered, "I've had more important things to do than _eat..._" the footsteps grew faster.

"You haven't? But Kankuro, you just barely recovered from your fight-Is _this _what you've been doing?!" She cried, sighting Karasu and the tools laid out in front of him.

"Yes… he's almost ready…" He felt a fond grin spread across his face.

"Ready for _what?_ You need to put that _doll_ away and-"

"_He's not a fucking doll!" _Kankuro cried, bringing Karasu's head onto his lap and hugging it protectively. "He's better than that!"

"What are you talking about, Kankuro? Karasu is a puppet. A _pup-pet._ It isn't real. Get a _new one, _instead of spending weeks fixing it."

"_No! _I will never get a _new one_-I _love _him!" he clapped a gloved hand over his mouth.

"You… _what?_" She snarled. He glared up at her.

"You heard me right. I-_love_-him."

"You love an inanimate object?"

"He won't be inanimate for long!" he said, hugging the puppet closer.

"What is _wrong_ with you? I think you've gone insane! That's it-You're coming with me, and you're going to _eat_!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the room, literally kicking and screaming.

"_No! He isn't finished! I need to finish him! You can't just leave him there! He's hurt! You can't make me leave him alone!"_ But it was futile. Temari dragged him down the stairs of the dark mansion and sat him down in a chair. By now he was crying as well, but he didn't care. She was trying to take him from Karasu. "Can't you see he's hurt?" He pleaded.

"_IT_ is not hurt. _IT _cannot feel pain._ IT is just a broken doll." _She tried to push some food on him. He refused.

"I'm not going to eat until he's perfect."

"And when _will_ it be perfect, Kankuro? When you starve to death?"

"No!"

"When, then?"

"He'll be perfect-he'll be absolutely _perfect-_when I make him alive." The chopsticks Temari had been holding fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Well then," his elder sister seethed, "You won't be _able_ to eat because you'll be fucking _dead."_

"No," he replied, "I figured out how to do it. You'll see."

"No I won't. I'm taking that _thing_ away and turning it into _scrap_!" without hesitation, Kankuro took a kunai knife out of his pocket.

"I knew you'd try to do that. And I promise you, if you hurt him… I'll cut my wrists wide open."

"Kankuro!"

A puppet loved a puppet. But no one understood.

This is how Karasu's story begins.


	2. Kankuro is Broken

Little side note: _italic text_ obviously means _it's a flashback_. Also, the part of this chapter in regular text takes place about a week after the first chapter. _Yes, _Temari got Kankuro to eat, and _no_, Karasu wasn't thrown out.

* * *

"_He's absolutely perfect," the man said, staring down at the red-haired baby with some bizarre notion of what could have been fatherly love._

"_He… He certainly is, Kazekage-sama…" Said the slightly shorter, blonde man standing beside him, "Truly he is fit to be Shukaku's… container." A single tear welled up in the man's eye, but he blinked it away. The Kazekage didn't notice, as all of his attention was focused on the tiny infant he held in his arms._

"_Yashamaru-san, are you okay?" A young boy asked, tugging on Yashamaru's sleeve._

"_Oh, Kankuro-kun, I didn't notice you there. Of course I am fine." He smiled calmly._

"_Oh, okay. Hey, wait! Is that my new baby brother?" the two-year old asked excitedly, trying to jump up high enough to see the small bundle his father was holding._

"_Yes, this is your new brother, Gaara." Yashamaru picked him up to see the face of his brother._

"_Hi, Gaara ni-chan!" Kankuro exclaimed, beaming. He reached out to touch Gaara's face, but his father slapped his hand away. "Ouch," Kankuro muttered quietly._

"_Don't touch him." His father said, glaring at him coldly._

"_Sumimasen, Kazekage-sama," Kankuro muttered, unnerved by his father's look._

"_Kankuro-kun, come along," Yashamaru said, steering Kankuro out the door, "We have to find Temari-chan, I have some important news…" His voice shook slightly._

"_Okay, she was in her room, I think! But what is it? And where's mummy, doesn't she wanna hold the baby?" Kankuro asked, looking up at his uncle._

"_That is the news I have, Kankuro-kun, but Temari should hear it too," Yashamaru answered, increasing his pace down the hallway._

"_Is it a secret? 'Cause you can tell me, I promise I won't spoil it for her!" he pleaded._

"_Kankuro-kun…" Yashamaru sighed sadly, "I suppose it can't wait…" He bent down and whispered the terrible secret in the toddler's ear. The color immediately drained from Kankuro's face. He remained silent until they reached his sister's room. Yashamaru knocked on the door and Temari answered._

"_Oh__, Yashamaru-san? __Kankuro-chan? What is it?" the three-year old asked. Then she saw Kankuro's face. "Kankuro-chan? Are you all right? You look so pale. Are you sick?"_

_Kankuro didn't answer, he just looked down at the floor. But Yashamaru just smiled faintly and said, "No, he isn't sick, Temari-chan. But may we come in? I have something very important to tell you."_

"_Sure. But does he need to lie down, maybe?" She asked, opening the door wider and helping Kankuro into her room. His face was white as chalk. He climbed onto her bed, his whole body shaking from head to toe._

"_Temari-chan, I'm happy to tell you that your baby brother has just been born." Temari grinned widely._

"_That's great Yashamaru-san! I have a new ni-chan!" Her smile fell a little when she saw that Kankuro and Yashamaru didn't seem as thrilled._

"_Also… Your mother, my aneki…" His voice shook once more. He steadied himself and began again. "My aneki… Has given her life… for the good of the village."_

"_W-what?" Temari cried, glancing at her little brother's blanched face and then back at her uncle's. "How? When? What about the baby?!"_

"_She died on account of the baby," Yashamaru explained, "You see, Kazekage-sama…" He proceeded to reveal the hideous plan for Gaara that their father had put in motion._

"_No! That's wrong-a parent wouldn't do that to a baby! Y-Yashamaru-san!" Tears went streaming down her face. Kankuro slid off the bed._

"_Gomennasai… Temari-chan… Yashamaru-san… __I-I do feel sick…" he scrambled out of the room and ran into a bathroom, where he fell on the floor and retched for about an hour._

_Only after that did he wander back into his room and finally start crying._

Kankuro was vaguely aware of people around him, talking to him, trying to get him to talk, but it was all so pointless-they were just people.

_Perfect._

He had lost all interest in them-Temari and Gaara. Baki. Everyone else, but they never liked him anyways.

_I am not perfect._

It wouldn't matter if they did-he wouldn't care. Karasu was the only thing he cared about.

_Heh._

Karasu was almost finished-just a few more adjustments.

_You are, though._

They just wouldn't let him work-they'd left Karasu cold and alone in his room, alone with no Kankuro to take care of him.

_They can't keep me away from you forever._

He refused to talk to them-they were imperfect. He could no longer trouble himself with imperfection.

_You're absolutely perfect and I love you._

Wait-what was happening? Where were they taking him?

_Karasu!_

Gaara and Temari stepped aside, letting them through the doorway. Why were they taking him out of the house-farther away from Karasu?

"Wait!" he cried out, "Where am I going?"

_Why?_

No answer came to him.

_Why don't they just leave us alone?_

He struggled out of their grasp, scrambled back into the house, slammed the door.

_Why?_

He ran over to Temari.

"Temari, please! Please…" She avoided his eyes. "I-I'm sorry!" He cried.

"Kankuro, you're… You're not right," she said, still not quite looking at him in the eyes.

"I know…" He said softly, "I know I'm not right…"

"You're broken… they're going to fix you… it's all right. You'll be all right."

"No! They can't fix me-I can't be fixed… I'm beyond repair…"

"Don't say that…" She said, holding him, "You can always be fixed."

"I can't…"

"Why not?"

"I'll never be fixed, I'll always… I'll always just be _a broken doll…_" He sneered.

"You're _not _a doll, ni-chan. You're a human."

"I don't like _humans…_ _Humans_ do things like _that-"_ he gestured to Gaara. They all knew what he meant by it. "_Humans_ aren't perfect."

"Humans _are_ perfect, Kankuro… Imperfections _make_ humans perfect."

"I can't accept that! I can't _accept_ it, Temari! I'm broken because I'm human! _I'm broken because I'm human!_" he shrieked. "They can't fix me because _they're_ broken too! _They're all broken, Temari!"_

"Oh, _Kankuro…_" She said dejectedly, rubbing the back of his head. That always used to calm him down, when he was a kid. She had done it when they'd found out the awful truth about their mother.

Wait. She suddenly remembered something. At the time, she hadn't given it any thought. She was three, after all, and grief had clouded her mind, but now, looking back, she realized…

_That _was when this had started? When Yashamaru had told them about their mother, _fifteen years ago_?!

_Temari peered into the dark room. She strained her ears to hear if there were any sounds coming from her brother. Then, she heard it. Her brother was crying, but she was too. Who wouldn't cry, after hearing what they'd just heard? _

_But… He was also muttering to herself._

"_He called it perfect… He called it perfect… That thing is not perfect… That __**thing**__ killed mummy… It's not perfect… Not perfect…"_

_Temari crept into the room silently, approaching her brother's bed. He noticed her and snapped out of his trance. "Temari-chan…" He muttered, "Why?" She sighed and sat down._

"_Kazekage-sama has a reason for everything… Maybe Gaara having a… thing… inside him will be good for the village…" She said quietly._

"_No it won't! It won't be good for __**anyone**__! It killed mummy!" He screamed, tears streaming down his face. Temari gently pulled him onto her lap and began rubbing the back of his head. He sniffled and stopped yelling, and eventually fell asleep in her arms._

Gaara and Temari decided that keeping Kankuro at home would be better for him. But, they decided, he would never be allowed anywhere without at least one of them with him at all times.

While it was Gaara's turn to watch him, Temari snuck into his room and retrieved the video camera the puppet had in its head. It recorded everything; maybe she could use it to figure out why Kankuro was… Broken.

She popped in the first tape. It was Kankuro talking to the puppet. It must have been a few years previous, as he still had his triangular face paint patterns.

"You're my favorite," he was saying. "Nobody appreciates what we can do, but don't worry; we're going to Konoha tomorrow. I might even become a chunin… If the people who pick them don't end up dead. We'll show them what we can do, right? That's right. Well, g'night, Karasu-kun."

It seemed pretty normal. It was almost like a diary entry. It was a little troubling that he called it "kun," but he didn't seem… bad.

She skimmed the next few hours, as it was just the puppet sitting there in the dark… Then Kankuro wrapping it up. Blah, blah, blah, still in the wrappings, for quite a while, the fight in the chunin exams, blah, blah… There we go!

"That was a good fight, wasn't it? We totally kicked ass. You did really well, you know. I'm really sorry you had to be held by that guy… I know you don't like to be held by anyone but me. Can you forgive me?" The camera moved up and down.

The puppet was nodding. Kankuro was using his technique to make the puppet answer questions.

'_You don't like to be held by anyone but me.'_

Shit.

Her brother had been a crazy person for _years._


End file.
